Combustion initiators for internal combustion engines have traditionally employed electrode materials that require very small gaps between their electrodes--on the order of 1 mm for use with conventional automobile ignition systems. Traditional materials for these electrodes, for example nickel-chromium (Inconel) wear out after about 30,000 Km in ordinary automobiles. Platinum electrodes last longer, but are very expensive.
The spark in prior art plugs is so short in length that it often doesn't ignite all of the fuel air mixture and sometimes completely fails to ignite the fuel. Furthermore, the spark has a slow rise time so that it is not as "hot" as it could be if its rise time were shorter.
As a result, each cylinder in an internal combustion engine in automobiles, for example, experience misfires about 2% of the time. This leads to high emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide pollutants and high fuel consumption.